Posted Jul. 2, 2013, 8:53 am

Tim Broughton / Mirror Contributor

Santa Monica police arrested a 37-year-old homeless man on Thursday, June 20 for cycling on a sidewalk, then refusing to halt, which led to a short pursuit before he gave up.

At 5:45 pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on routine patrol in the 1100 block of Michigan Avenue when they chanced upon a man who was cycling on the sidewalk.

This is a violation of Santa Monica Municipal Code 3.12.45 (a), so the officers decided to talk to him.

One of the officers exited the patrol vehicle and stood on the sidewalk in full police uniform and requested the offender to halt.

The offender refused and simply cycled past the officers, thus initiating a chase of the kind that could be considered similar to the ones depicted in a silent movie from the 1920’s.

The suspect rode eastbound to 14th Street and then proceeded westbound.

As officers caught up to him, he turned around and fled northbound to Michigan where he went south, with the officers on his tail.

Once in the 1300 block of Michigan, the subject jumped off his bike, and began running eastbound towards Alley 13.

Realizing that the officers were not going to give up the chase, this man surrendered and was taken into custody.

This homeless man was arrested and charged with violation of probation, cycling on the sidewalk, and resisting police officers.

Bail was not granted.

Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of the Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website,smmirror.com.